Cancer types with highest survival rates
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Cancer Types with the Highest Survival Rates: Global and Long-Term Data
Solid Tumors with the Best Long-Term Survival
Large-scale studies show that certain solid tumors have the highest long-term survival rates. Thyroid cancer stands out with a 20-year relative survival rate of 95.2%. Other cancers with high 20-year survival rates include germ cell and trophoblastic neoplasms (90.3%), melanoma (86.8%), Wilms’ tumor (86.2%), and prostate cancer (83.5%) . These findings are consistent across different populations and time periods, highlighting the effectiveness of current treatments and early detection for these cancer types 26.
Five-Year Survival Rates: Skin and Breast Cancers
When looking at five-year survival rates, basal cell carcinoma of the skin has the highest rate, exceeding 100% due to low mortality and competing risks in the general population. Other skin cancers like dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (99.7%) and mycosis fungoides (96.6%) also show excellent five-year survival. In contrast, angiosarcoma has a much lower five-year survival rate (24.7%) .
Breast cancer also demonstrates high survival, especially in developed countries. For example, five-year survival for breast cancer is about 90% in the USA and Australia. Survival is even higher for certain molecular subtypes, such as hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative (HR+/HER2−) breast cancer, which has a four-year survival rate of 92.5% 27. In Iran, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 80%, with the highest rates seen in noninvasive carcinoma types .
Prostate Cancer: Exceptionally High Survival
Prostate cancer is notable for its extremely high one- and five-year survival rates, especially when detected early. One-year survival is nearly 100% for stages 1–3, and five-year survival remains very high, only dropping to 87.6% in stage 4 disease . This makes prostate cancer one of the most survivable cancers overall.
Childhood Cancers: Wilms’ Tumor and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Among childhood cancers, Wilms’ tumor has a 20-year survival rate of 86.2% . Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children also shows high five-year survival rates, reaching up to 95.2% in some countries .
Bladder Cancer: Histologic Variants
For bladder cancer, the highest five-year survival rates are seen in patients with the giant cell variant (66.7%) and those treated with radical cystectomy (75.3%) . However, survival varies widely depending on the histologic subtype.
Trends and Importance of Early Detection
Survival rates for most cancers have improved over time, especially for solid tumors. Early diagnosis is a key factor in achieving high survival rates, as survival drops significantly for later-stage disease in most cancer types 1268.
Conclusion
Thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, certain skin cancers (like basal cell carcinoma), Wilms’ tumor, and some breast cancer subtypes have the highest survival rates among all cancer types. Early detection and advances in treatment are crucial contributors to these outcomes. Survival rates continue to improve globally, but they vary by cancer type, stage at diagnosis, and region 1256789.
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